Spanish Archbishop calls for action in response to “absurd” social transformation

Valencia, Fla., Mar 11, 2005 / 12:00 am (CNA).- Archbishop Agustin Garcia-Gasco of Valencia, Spain, is calling on the Spanish to avoid becoming “silent spectators” in the wake of the current changes and transformation taking place in the society of the third millennium and to not allow “history to steer us toward the absurd and to suffering.”

“Human freedom and social responsibility allow us to change what appears to be the course of history,” the archbishop said in his weekly letter, alluding to the disturbing state of affairs in areas such as scientific research, the family, public opinion and women’s issues.

In his letter, the archbishop said that genetic research that allows “selfish or economic ends to trump ethics is a grave error,” adding that “ethics violations translate into victims who we then try to forget about or silence.”

Referring to the area of public opinion, Archbishop Garcia-Gasco lamented that “some polls seem to have been carried out in order to spread preconceived ideas against religion as trendy and worthy of imitation.”

Regarding family issues, the archbishop criticized the media for presenting relationships “that in reality conceal a lack of service and commitment” as “normal and good.”

He also expressed his concern for the increase in aggression against women, calling it “an intolerable sign of moral degradation.”

The legal advances in favor of women “are many times juxtaposed against the very serious contradictions of a society that has become violent towards women,” the archbishop warned, noting that “fostering in the young people of Spain the values of true love and family is an unavoidable challenge.”

He also expressed his “concern” for stay-at-home moms who “are not recognized as ‘workers’, and whose work is often ridiculed, as if raising a family were not as valuable as having a job.” “The family fulfills the aspirations of the human person much more than jobs do,” he said.